Football team could defuse controversy with name change

Friday

Jun 20, 2014 at 12:01 AM

A term that one person finds endearing may be offensive to someone else. That truism continues to play out in the ongoing debate about the nickname of Washington's professional football team. The latest action took place Wednesday, when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled the Redskins' trademark protections should be cancelled. The decision only affected trademarks issued between 1967 and 1990, so the current rendition isn't involved. The team immediately appealed, so a final decision could be years away.

A term that one person finds endearing may be offensive to someone else. That truism continues to play out in the ongoing debate about the nickname of Washington's professional football team. The latest action took place Wednesday, when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled the Redskins' trademark protections should be cancelled. The decision only affected trademarks issued between 1967 and 1990, so the current rendition isn't involved. The team immediately appealed, so a final decision could be years away.However, a quicker resolution could occur if team owner Daniel Snyder made a decision that more and more people seek: change the team's nickname and logo. Sports teams change nicknames for numerous reasons, sometimes due to offensive terms. Another Washington team, the NBA's Wizards, dropped Bullets due to concern about gun violence. However, Snyder has remained resolute that he won't change the name.Many Davidson County residents have more than a passing interest in the controversy. Before the Carolina Panthers came into existence, many residents rooted for either Washington or Atlanta, since those cities had the closest NFL teams. A good number of Native Americans also call the county home. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians remains the only federally recognized tribe in North Carolina, although many other tribes have a presence in the state.Some people could make a legitimate argument that the nation has more important concerns than the nickname of a professional football team; even U.S. senators have weighed in on this issue. Yet sports plays a major role in the nation, right or wrong. Americans pay attention to teams and players. So a change involving a team's nickname can have ramifications in the way average folks view terms and issues.Indian terms aren't the only ones that can cause offense to some people. Confederate nicknames, for example, also came under fire when integration of schools occurred in the 1960s. A few holdouts remain in that area as well. Fans of these teams cite tradition and deep-seated allegiance to the nickname as a reason not to change.But all of us should be concerned with avoiding terms that others find offensive, even if we don't fully understand the reason. Enough people have raised concerns about Washington's nickname that the team should seriously consider a change. While it might be giving up its legacy, it would also see a spike in merchandise sales with a switch. Ultimately, the bottom line sometimes speaks louder than doing the right thing. So perhaps that argument will win over Snyder even if the sensitivity concern doesn't.